It will be nonsense to think of eradicating the LTTE, writes Vickramabahu Karunaratne in a recent article highlighting the need for alternative thinking. "In the case of the LTTE, it represents the real anger of the Tamil people against discrimination, humiliation and oppression by Sinhala chauvinism. […] It was and is wrong to the hilt in hating Tamil society for its demand for equality and self-determination. […] All global capitalist powers including India will be forced to repent in time to come for their aggressive participation in human suffering of this order. […] The LTTE cannot be blamed for not surrendering to the Sinhala army of the chauvinist regime," he writes.
Full text of the article by Dr. Vickrmabahu Karunaratne, general secretary of the NSSP and the president of the Left Front in Sri Lanka, follows:
The government, while discarding all appeals for a ceasefire is hell bent on finishing the LTTE. The LTTE cannot be finished as it is a movement in the hearts and minds of the Tamil people. It represents the strongest commitment to the Tamil right to self determination and Tamil freedom. Even those who disagree with the LTTE`s violent methods or with its political programme for Tamil liberation, still hail it as the most formidable opposition to Sinhala repression. So, it will be nonsense to think of eradicating the LTTE. UNP leaders led by the then defence minister thought of finishing the JVP by eliminating over fifty-thousand JVP suspects with the leadership. It is claimed that Wijeweera was burnt alive by a military group. But today modern dissidents of Wijeweera and other JVP leaders virtually run the government of Mahinda. The ghost of Wijeweera is behind the president at all times. Champika Ranawaka and Wimal Weerawansa today, represent the last political message of the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya, the brainchild of Wijeweera. In that sense both Champika and Wimal are legitimate political children of Wijeweera. The rump JVP is left in the ditch without being able to go along with these two. It does not represent the JVP past or present. While howling for a better war it is barking at the government for repression! So we can count it out. But the real JVP represented by the chauvinist duo, Champika and Wimal, is doing great. So, the dream of the UNP leaders to eliminate the JVP has not been fulfilled.
Similarly the dream of Mahinda to eliminate the LTTE by brutal repression of all who are associated with the LTTE will be a void in the coming period. In the case of the LTTE, it represents the real anger of the Tamil people against discrimination, humiliation and oppression by Sinhala chauvinism. The JVP was correct to an extent. It protested about oppression of Sinhala society by the Anglo-Saxon Western upper classes. But it was and is wrong to the hilt in hating Tamil society for its demand for equality and self determination. Strangely enough it is the wrong side of the JVP that is flourishing today both inside and outside of the government. However the anger of the Tamil people over the ruthless attacks made by both the state and the pogroms cannot be dispersed by decimating the LTTE. The latter will enhance the hard feelings within Tamil society. It will pour out in the future not only in Lanka but also in India as a gigantic Dravidian movement.
Already unknown to many, a demon is haunting India it is the demon of neo Brahmanism. This resurgence of Brahmanism is less connected to Hindu self assertion but more to the rise of global capital. The crisis in global capital is demanding a massive human sacrifice as in the previous global capitalist setback. After the economic crash in 1929, the capitalist system faced a massive crisis. Then the rise of Nazism and Hitler was for a purpose. Freud says in human history every crisis has demanded a human sacrifice and massive bloodletting. Maybe the rise of neo Brahmanism in India is the new ideology necessary for human sacrifice that may come, if the liberation of mankind does not take place in time! The rise of the Dravidians will be one of the most important challenges to the designs of neo Brahmanism. Taking the rule of Freud seriously one could say that the sacrifice made by the Tamils today is for the victory that will come in the future against neo Aryan Brahmanism. Of course I am just speculating, but the truth is that Tamil consciousness in the world has expanded due to the repressive war of the Mahinda regime. All global capitalist powers including India will be forced to repent in time to come for their aggressive participation in human suffering of this order. The LTTE cannot be blamed for not surrendering to the Sinhala army of the chauvinist regime. If thousands die due to the attacks of the army the blame will squarely fall on the government and its masters. America, India and others shed crocodile tears about the massive human tragedy after doing everything possible to repress the Tamil speaking people.
It is sad to watch the UNP and other so-called liberals happily waiting to see the effect of the tragedy on the government. There is no attempt to press for a ceasefire. In effect they give their support to the aggressive war efforts of the government. In this scenario there is no other way out except the programme of the Left.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow TNN on Facebook and Twitter )